Death to the Mosquito Population of My Room

Hey everyone!! Sorry for not updating the past few days but after you read this post I think you'll understand why. Also, no new posts until Sunday night since we'll all be at a Buddhist camp with no internet. Or privacy.   Or beds. So here's a super long post to help you out.

• Tuesday
• Had another lecture on Buddhism (5 hours in two days) from the Australian ex-monk who will be going with us to the camp this weekend. His name is Lawrie, short for Lawrence.
• He recommended that the girls not wear anything but pants.
• Lawrie then told me I had nice legs. 
• Our second class that day was on how to buy clothing in Thai. Would have been something useful a few weeks ago when we actually had to buy goods.
• Decided to put our knowledge to use and go to an American sized clothing store. I am quickly learning that the best places to buy clothes are at venders or street side shops because the clothes there are actually interesting. The store was so American they had state and sports hoodies.
• Since Deanna, Karen, Niko and I had gotten off early we had to walk back to the guesthouse. In our uniforms. Not the brightest bunch of people right here. 
• Stopped by the mall to get Niko some green suede dress shoes. You read that right. 
• I FINALLY FOUND Q-TIPS!! 
• After we got back Deanna, Karen and I waited a bit before going to our favorite restaurant. While we were there it started raining. Then all of a sudden it came down like crazy for about ten minutes and went back to a sprinkle. This was enough to knock the internet out for the rest of the night.
• Wednesday
• Two lectures today. One was on Myanmar (or Burma) and the second was on Thai family. Nothing too unusual in either so moving along.
• Some people decided to stay at school until 5 so they could try out Tai Chi. Since all I had was a pencil skirt going back to the guesthouse seemed swell. Niko, Donna and I had some mouth watering ice cream (instead of cherries they put these little gummy hearts on top). 
• We then got another massage. Tried out the foot back head and neck massage. New favorite. My lady found my back and neck funny. My shoulders were rock hard before and were squishy afterwards.
• On the way back to the guesthouse it started raining so the three of us ducked into a nearby 7/11 to wait it out, expecting it to start getting bad then decresendo. It did not. The storm knocked out the power in our part of Chiang Mai for the next five hours. 
• In the 7/11 there were a bunch of high school kids who, when the power went out, whipped out their camera phones and started taking videos of what was going on.
• Eventually we ventured out and realized most of the road was flooded. So the ducklings waded along, one of them almost losing his Kermit flip flops, Donna just going for it in her sneakers, and me hitching up my skirt while giggling at our silliness. We stopped at a really good noodle shop to wait for the rain to let up a bit more. Thankfully it did and we eventually made it back to our rooms.
• No sink, some of the toilets didn't flush, and there was no hot water. So all the ducklings crowded into one room to watch something, which turned out to be a really confusing anime. Then a couple people got incredibly rude by sitting there watching bad (as in lame) videos, being boring in general, refusing to take the hint to get out, and eventually insulting one of the girls whose room it was. 
• Tensions are definitely starting to arise amongst the group. 
• Thursday
• TWO MORE LECTURES WITHOUT BREAKS!! You know those desks that make your butt go numb after ten-ish minutes?? That's what we're forced to sit in for two hours straight listening to people literally ramble (not teach, ramble) on and on. It probably did not help that I was in a lot of pain during the first lecture.
• The first lecture was supposed to be about Thai Art. Instead we spent an hour and a half learning about puppets and then spent the last half hour on dancing. Not fun when you are in a lot of pain. 
• The second lecture did not make sense. From the title "The Rice Goddess" you would assume it was on mythology. WRONG. It was about the 'perfect Thai woman'. We think. Logic is absent in that woman's head. I could not tell if she was teaching us gender studies or how to plant rice. She also gave us two short stories to read
• One was about a woman who tried to leave her children at the bus stop to become a nun
• The other was about a woman in an abusive relationship who refuses to leave because she cannot function in the outside world
• One of the people who helps set up this trip took us out for khao soy (cow soy). We have had it on the mountain before and it was not spicy so it was a happy time for the ducklings. Until we took our first spoonful. It left an all over smoldering heat which turned your lips numb. But it was so tasty. We then had this really odd coconut milk over finely crushed ice with flour gummy tentacles in white and green at the bottom. Strangely delicious. 
• Everyone went to see the English Club's dress rehearsal of "The Importance of Being Ernest." I choose to stay in my room and get away from all these crazy people. 
• I am currently covered in mosquito bites. I have three on my left big toe, five on my right foot, two on my left hand and my right, one on my left elbow, three on my right elbow, and five on my right forearm. And five on my face, but only three big ones. Whenever you scratch a bite, it gets bigger. One of the ones on my right elbow was the size of a quarter at least. None of mine have faded, they last quite a while. And I don't have any good anti-itch cream here but I think it's time to invest in some bug spray, don't you agree?? 

Lizard Count: 4